In media class we debated whether or not the internet is addicting, and some were talking about the internet like it was crystal meth. They were acting like the World Wide Web had cooties – I don't know why.
"I know I'm addicted," someone said.
I just can't see it that way. I'm addicted to the internet like I am addicted to wearing my contacts or driving my car. It enhances life, so I choose to use it every day. This week's "Invisibilia" podcast talked about this, and their sources seemed to take my opinion. They said that people are still learning and seeing the internet and its effect on society.
If you watch the show Downton Abby (OMG this week was amazing. What a relief Bates wasn't involved in the murder.), when the house first got electricity people were afraid. They feared that electricity was dangerous and could have some terrible effect on humans.
I think people feel the same way toward internet. On the timeline of human history, the web has been around for a microsecond. It's still unexplored and undeveloped. The uncharted and unknown can be quite frightening, but that doesn't mean it's addicting.
I'm not saying that people can't be addicted to the internet – of course they can. If you watch the TLC show "My Strange Addiction," you know people can be addicted to anything. People can be addicted to eating toilet paper or sniffing detergent, but that doesn't mean toilet paper and detergent should be avoided.
PsychCentral has a quiz to help people determine if they spend an "unhealthy amount of time" on the internet. Truly, if you seek the internet over your partner, you have a problem, but I don't think the problem is rooted in the internet.
http://psychcentral.com/cgi-bin/netaddictquiz.cgi
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